Yes, We Need An Integrated Regulation

I was a college student before I decided to move out of the
college to take next year's entrance test. My college was located
in East Jakarta, in the Jakarta Capital Region. Every week day I
took public transportation to get there since it's the easiest
access. In Jakarta, the best known fastest mass transportation
system is called TransJakarta Busway. It has it's
own path facilitated by the province government.

My personal opinion as to why the fastest service is given to
Jakartans and to convince the
Jakartans to take public transportation, is they
don't need to undergo the traffic jam along the way. At first,
many tried, then many went away, and got back to their personal
vehicles. But many still choose it too. Till now, TransJakarta
still operates.

The thing is actually not many passengers take it. As Jakarta
grows each day, the traffic jam is getting crazier. TransJakarta
path has become the target to get through the traffic jam,
especially for personal vehicles. It saddens me every time when I
am on board because I see many personal vehicles, not only
motorcycles but also cars that I don't know. What is on their
mind to hit the path separator and abuse the Transjakarta path
and seem not guilty for doing so?

What has been done to prevent traffic jams?

1. Placing more official people along the path to stop people
trying to get in. This makes the separator higher.

2. A gate was built so that people could not get on the path any
more.

But everything seems to be in vain and not optimal. Apparently,
everything that the government does to make a good service always
get screwed by irresponsible people. And now, the government has
a new unbelievably super mind-blowing policy. That for those who
enter the transjakarta path they will be fined one million
rupiahs. At first, yes, it sounds so crazy. But think again,
thinking about what people have done, I think one million rupiahs
is a good policy to make people stop abusing the transjakarta
path.

Speaking about the regulation, many pros and cons appear after
the coming of the new regulation. Some say it's way ridiculous
and many agree (including me) with this new regulation. The cons
apparently keep airing everywhere. Many media outlets talk about
this sterilization regulation. Many debate it. Is it the right
thing that the government helps to solve not only the service of
transjakarta but also the traffic jam in Jakarta?

This gets interesting. I watched 'Satu Meja' or 'One
Table' on a local channel last night and they mostly talked
about the new regulation on sterilizing the transjakarta path.
They invited some experts and a community committing to bike to
work. There, they discussed either the newly made regulation good
or not and how strong this regulation can overcome the
hard-to-solve traffic jam problem.

An expert, if I am not mistaken, in urban studies said that the
newly made regulation is good. But it's not enough to solve the
whole traffic jam related problems. Transjakarta, he said, serves
certain segments. MRT, the soon jakarta mass transport, will
serve certain segments too. "We need more mass transports. MRT
is not enough, and so is transjakarta busway."

He also added that we also need to integrate our train as an
economist transportation for many people. In Japan, they have
approximately 1500 kms path connecting the trains to many spots.
(if I am not mistaken, again. Sorry I didn't catch the exact
number). While in Indonesia, we only have 150 kms path. Seeing
that, with the exploding mass that keeps on increasing, we have
to integrate our services and facilities for people.

I agree that we need more than integrated facilities. The big
solution of all solutions is an integrated solution. Everything
will be in vain eventually if we don't have significant
integrated regulation. For example we have integrated our
facilities and public transportation. But there's no significant
regulation to make people prefer public transportation to
personal vehicles, traffic jam will never be overcome.

Thus, I do believe that to solve this problem, government is not
only concerned about the integrated facilities like building more
mass transports, but also the integrated regulation. Lastly, I,
as a Jakartan, I also believe that to make Jakarta better we
can't just rely on government. We also have to do it together,
follow the rules and regulations for our own good.

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Voices of Youth (VOY) was founded in 1995 as UNICEF’s online place for young people to learn more about issues affecting their world. Today, VOY is a vibrant community of youth bloggers from all over the world, offering inspiring, original insight and opinion on a variety of topics. Everyone is welcome to write, film, comment and engage in discussions. Let’s go!